March 15, 2011

The Berlinale Talent Campus film series „Against the Current“presents a selection of films by former participants

From April 1 to 7, 2011, the Berlinale Talent Campus will screen selected short and feature-length films made throughout the past nine Campus years at the cinema Arsenal in Berlin. Out of the many project ideas selected for and further developed in the various hands-on training programmes throughout the years – like the Talent Project Market, Doc & Script Station, Campus Editing Studio, Berlin Today Award, and others – a number of internationally successful films have been made. In „Against the Current“, the Berlinale Talent Campus spotlights 28 selected films from former Campus participants. The films were created during or after the Berlinale and have gained acclaim at festivals and cinemas all over the world and won numerous prizes.

The opening film Lake Tahoe by Fernando Eimbcke (Campus 2003) sees the return to Berlin of a film that screened in Competition in the 2008 Berlinale and was awarded with the Alfred-Bauer and Fipresci prizes. Other films include: Cherien Dabis’ Amreeka (Fipresci prize 2009, Cannes Film Festival, Directors’ Fortnight), Annemarie Jacir’s Salt of This Sea (Cannes Film Festival 2008, Un Certain Regard; Cinema in Motion Award, San Sebastián International Film Festival 2007), Kit Hung’s Soundless Wind Chime (Berlinale Forum 2009), Javier Fuentes-León’s Contracorriente (Audience Award, Sundance Film Festival 2010, World Cinema Dramatic) and Charles Officer’s Nurse.Fighter.Boy (Toronto International Film Festival 2008, Audience Award at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival 2009). In addition, a number of short films will be presented that were created as part of the Berlin Today Award and other Campus short film programmes. The filmic journey across the globe, from Malaysia to Mexico and India to Canada, tells the story of youth in rebellion, alternative lifestyles, fateful encounters and the feeling of being torn between home and abroad. The spotlight is on a young generation of filmmakers who are not afraid to confront difficult questions, who invite audiences to swim „against the current“.

The Berlinale Talent Campus is an initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival, a business division of the Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media upon a decision of the German Bundestag, in co-operation with MEDIA - Training programme of the European Union and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.